My December
by Madam Snow
Summary: This is my first ever attempt at a Prince of Tennis fan fiction. Flames and helpful critism welcomed with open arms. Full summery inside. No real pairing. Please enjoy. I'll continue depending on the response. Please Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

This is my first ever try at a Prince of Tennis fan fiction so flames and helpful criticism is welcomed with open arms. The plot is that Ryoma's parents are going to America to celebrate Christmas with Rinko's parents and they're going to leave Ryoma with Nanako to spare them the grief. The Seigaku regulars are planning something and they're not telling Ryoma. Feeling slightly depressed, Ryoma slowly withdraws into his own world. Can the regulars coax him out before it's too late? And what's this big secret?

I do not own Prince of Tennis.

**My December:**

Chapter One:

"_That's not fair!" shouted Ryoma. "Why do I have to stay here?"_

_Nanjiroh looked up from his newspaper, thoroughly annoyed. Ryoma was standing ten feet away, his fists clenched and his golden cat eyes narrowed into a frown._

"_You're ten feet away," said Nanjiroh. "There's no reason to shout."_

"_I'll shout all I want!" said Ryoma. "Why do I have to stay here? Why can't I go with you and mom?"_

_Nanjiroh sat up and glared at his son._

"_Because the whole time you'll complain about how you can't play tennis at you have no one to play tennis with and how much better Japanese food is," snapped Nanjiroh. "We're leaving you here with Nanako so get over it."_

_Ryoma opened his mouth to argue, but he knew his dad was right. His grandparents lived in California and they never ate Japanese food and there were no tennis courts near their house. Of course that gave him plenty of room to complain._

"_That's not the point!" cried Ryoma "You'll miss my birthday and Christmas. That's what I care about!"_

_Ryoma turned on his heel and stormed outside. He didn't have time to argue right now. He was going to be late for school._

"Baka oiji," muttered Ryoma furiously as he walked through the front gates of Seishun Gakuen. "He doesn't even care."

He shrugged his tennis bag onto his shoulder and pushed his way through the crowd. He knew it wasn't worth his energy to get all worked up over this, but still! How could they forget something like that? Ryoma checked the clock overhead. He still had about ten minutes before class started. He veered off towards the tennis courts. He might as well get some hitting practice in to kill the time. The snow had be shoveled off of the path leaving him a clear path.

"Oi, Echizen," shouted a familiar voice.

Ryoma paused and looked over his shoulder to see Momo barreling towards him. The spiky haired second year skidded to a halt a couple of feet away from Ryoma.

"Yo," said Ryoma. "What's up?"

"What do you mean, 'what's up'?" shouted Momo. "I waited outside your house for like ten minutes."

Ryoma blinked at him and tilted his head back, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Oh, gomen," said Ryoma. "I got into a fight with my dad and stormed off."

Momo sighed. He hadn't been there five minutes and he was already starting to get a headache. Momo hung his head in defeat. It was really too early for this. A thought struck Momo.

"Why were you fighting with your dad?" he asked.

"He and my mom are going to visit her parents in the States for Christmas and I can't go. Their going to leave me here with my cousin," said Ryoma. "The worst part is, they don't even care that they'll miss my birthday."

Momo blinked at the freshman. It was rare that Ryoma confided in anyone other than his cat. He must be really upset. Ryoma dug his hands into his pockets and turned away. He started to walk towards the courts when Momo appeared at his side.

"Come on," said Momo. "Let's play a match."

"There isn't time," replied Ryoma.

"Fine, let's rally until the first bell rings," offered Momo. "I need something to do."

"Whatever," said Ryoma.

They reached the courts, it turned out they were all taken. Ryoma sighed and leaned against the fence. The juniors had taken over the courts.

"I can't believe there's not a single free court," said Momo. "Not one."

"Too bad," said Ryoma.

"Nya, Ochibi!" shouted someone.

The next thing Ryoma knew, Eiji Kikumaru had pounced on him. Ryoma staggered slightly under the third year's weight.

"Kikumaru senpai," managed Ryoma in Eiji's death grip. "That hurts."

Eiji loosened his grip, but kept one arm firmly around Roma's neck.

"You're here early, nya," said Eiji, cheerfully.

"It's no big deal," muttered Ryoma, quietly working his way out of Eiji's grasp. "I just left a bit earlier than usual. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Momo-kun, Ochibi's cranky, nya," said Eiji, clearly amused.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" asked Ryoma.

"You're being very mean today, Ochibi. Did you skip breakfast?" asked Eiji.

Ryoma looked away, but his treacherous stomach growled loudly at that moment. Ryoma blushed slightly. Eiji laughed.

"Come on," said the acrobat. "I'll get you something from the cafeteria. My treat."

"Yeah, I'm a little hungry myself," said Momo brightly.

"You don't know the meaning of hunger," snapped Eiji. "Besides, you've nearly destroyed my bank account. This is just for Ochibi, nya."

"Nani?" groaned Momo. "That's not fair."

Eiji stuck his tongue out and hurried Ryoma away, leaving Momo in their dust.

"Nya, nya, we have to hurry before they close," cried Eiji, dragging Ryoma along behind him. "I want you to get something good."

They stopped in front of the cafeteria with five minutes to spare. Panting lightly, Eiji tugged Ryoma inside. The cafeteria was warm and cozy compared the outside. The line was short and the two jumped in.

"Order whatever you want, Ochibi," said Eiji. "It's all on me."

Ryoma looked up at the menu and silently decided on ramen. He looked suspiciously up at Eiji. Usually he had to be tricked into buying food for him and Momo. Something was clearly up.

"What's going on?" asked Ryoma.

"What do you mean?" asked Eiji.

Ryoma raised one eyebrow and looked at his senpai. Eiji looked around quickly for a distraction. Yep, something was definitely up.

"Hoi, hoi, Ochibi, your next!" cried Eiji, nervously.

He pushed Ryoma forward and breathed a sigh of relief. That was just a temporary distraction, but Ryoma wouldn't be so easily deterred.


	2. Chapter 2

**My December:**

Chapter Two:

Ryoma was actually having trouble sleeping in his English class. He had been sitting in the same position with his head down for the past twenty minutes and he was still wide awake. Next to him, Horio was prodding him as if to wake him up. Ryoma swatted him away, annoyed. He didn't feel like being bothered with his classmate. His mind was still back at his house, watching his parents pack. Ryoma frowned and peeked up at the board. As usual it was blank. In a minute, the teacher would call him up in a feeble attempt to teach him a lesson about sleeping in class.

"Echizen!" said the teacher, his voice sharp. "Why don't you come to the board and answer last night's homework."

Ryoma stood up lazily and walked towards the bored. After five minutes, the blackboard was covered in tiny white writing and a picture of his cat, Karupin.

"Well done," said the teacher in English.

"Mada mada," muttered Ryoma as he went back to his seat.

"How do you do that?" asked Horio.

"I lived in America," said Ryoma, bored. "It's really my first language."

Ryoma turned away and resumed his battle with his conscious mind. Forty minutes later, Ryoma was opening his lunch that Nanako made for him. He liked Nanako's food. She always made a Japanese lunch just for him.

"Ryoma sama!" shouted a high pitched voice.

Ryoma looked up in the direction of the voice. Tomoko. Of course. Ryoma sighed and looked back at his lunch. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tomoko put her hands on her hips and pout. Ryoma smirked from that small satisfaction. No matter how upset he was, he could always manage to be the most annoying creature under the sun. It didn't take him long to finish off his lunch and there was still plenty of time left. He stood up and made his way towards the door, ignoring Tomoko's protests. Ryoma opened the door and crashed into something very solid. He toppled over and landed on the floor.

"You should watch were your going, Echizen," said a muffled voice.

Ryoma looked up and saw Momo looking down at him, his arms full of food and a doughnut in his mouth. Ryoma resisted the urge to roll his eyes and got to his feet. He pushed past Momo.

"Hey, where are you going?" Momo cried after him.

"To the courts," said Ryoma.

Momo fidgeted for a minute and bit his lip.

"Uh, you can't!" said Momo.

Ryoma looked over his shoulder at the second year.

"Why not?" demanded Ryoma.

Man was everyone just trying to get on his nerves today? It sure seemed that way. After ten seconds, Momo hadn't come up with an excuse so Ryoma started towards the stairs again. Momo grabbed Ryoma's arm, nearly dropping all his food.

"Don't you want so more food?" asked Momo.

"If I eat anymore, I'll fall asleep in my next class," said Ryoma.

Ryoma pulled himself free and hurried down the stairs before Momo could come up with another excuse. Outside, the cold air sent a shiver down his spine. It wasn't quite warm enough for the snow to melt and there were only a few people around. Ryoma made his way towards the club room near the courts. He was about five feet away when the door opened and the regulars came out. Ryoma stopped, momentarily dumbstruck.

"What's going on?" asked Ryoma.

The regulars froze and looked at him, each with a slightly guilty look on their faces. Well, except for Tezuka who maintained his stiff poker face.

"Did I miss a meeting?" asked Ryoma.

"No," said Fuji. "It's nothing."

Ryoma looked over at Taka.

"What's going on, Taka-senpai?" asked Ryoma.

Taka was a horrible liar and everyone knew it. The sushi chef in training squirmed for a minute before Fuji handed him his racket.

"NOTHING'S GOING ON! BURNING!" shouted Taka, swinging the racket wildly.

Fuji reached out and caught the racket. He gave it a gentle tug and it popped out of Taka's hand easily. Taka reverted back to his shy self instantly. Ryoma glared at Fuji.

"That's cheating," said Ryoma.

"I don't know what your talking about," said Fuji with his ever present smile. "Do you want to have a practice match?"

Ryoma looked at the regulars. None of them were going to break. Ryoma sighed, defeated.

"Whatever," said Ryoma. "Just let me get my racket."

Ryoma disappeared into the club room. Fuji winced inwardly. Ryoma sounded boarder line miserable. He probably didn't like feeling left out. He glanced around quickly and saw his slight guilt mirrored on their faces.

"He'll thank us later," said Fuji quietly.

Ryoma emerged from the club room dress in his tennis clothes. His racket was slung over his shoulder and the brim of his hat was pulled down over his eyes.

"Let's go," muttered Ryoma, pushing past them.

It had been too much for one day. First his parents announcing that they would be in the States for the whole month. Now his friends were hiding something from him. Almost completely alone. Sure Nanako was nice, but she was so polite that she wasn't much conversation. Ryoma sighed and waited for Fuji to serve.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well this is chapter two. I hope you like it. I tried to stay pretty true to the characters, but I don't know how well I did. This chapter is also shorter than the first, but I really think this was a good place to end it. I've started work on chapter three already so please review.

Madam Snow


	3. Chapter 3

**My December****_ story. This is an excerpt from its sequel _Frozen January_. Just skip over it if you don't want a spoiler._**

_Ryoma rolled over and the first thing he noticed was the noise. No, not the noise. The lack of noise. He couldn't hear his father's voice rising above his alarm clock. He couldn't hear his alarm clock. It was almost silent. The faint sound of dishes clanking together rose up from through the floor boards._

_It took a minute, but the shock set in and Ryoma felt the world stop spinning. He rolled onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow, trying to hold back the flood of emotion that pressed at his heart. Next to him, Karupin mewed softly and snuggled up against his master's side, offering the only comfort he could._

**My December:**

**Chapter One:**

Ryoma was skipping. After his match with Fuji, he had completely forgotten about his next classes and practice and went straight home. Nanako greeted him cheerfully even though she was somewhat confused about why he was home so early. Ryoma went upstairs. He paused outside his room. Something caught his eye. The door to his parents room was open. Ryoma sighed and went towards it.

"Empty," he whispered almost sadly.

It was in fact empty. The bed was neatly made and the suitcases that had littered the floor earlier that day were gone. It was like looking into a place that had never been lived in. Ryoma leaned against the door frame. They really went through with it. They left him. Ryoma shut the door and went into his bedroom. He collapsed onto the bed and Karupin immediately jumped up next to him. Ryoma ran his fingers through the cat's thick fur and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

"Ryoma-san," said a gentle voice. 

Ryoma want to react, but the voice was so far away.

"Ryoma-san," the voice repeated.

This time someone nudged him in the side and the voice became much closer. Ryoma opened his eyes slowly and found himself face to face with Nanako. She was knelling down next to the bed smiling at him.

"I came to tell you that dinner is ready, but if you want to sleep some more I'll leave," she said politely.

"No," said Ryoma, yawning. "I'll get up now."

Ryoma sat up and rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands.

"Your so cute when you wake up," said Nanako just before she left.

Ryoma blinked after her, still too groggy to comprehend what she had said. He shook himself and that cleared his head a bit. Karupin jumped off of his lap and darted out the door. Ryoma followed him into the kitchen. The good thing about having Nanako cook, everything was Japanese. Well, except for breakfast. Ryoma made a mental note to kill Inui-senpai and that stupid menu he had made up. Ryoma sat down at the table and Nanako set down a plate before him.

"Your friends stopped by while you were sleeping," said Nanako as she sat down across from him. "They brought your school things."

"Which friends?" asked Ryoma.

Nanako thought for a moment. How do you describe the Seigaku regulars.

"Well, one had red hair and a bandage on his face and he kept saying 'Nya' after every sentence. The other had his hair cut into a bowl shape and he seemed really worried about you," said Nanako. "The third one had tousled brown hair and glasses and he didn't really talk much. The last one had his eyes closed and he was smiling a lot."

Ryoma knew instantly who she was talking about. He could understand Kikumaru and Oishi and even Fuji, but Tezuka? His captain must be mad that he skipped practice that afternoon.

"You should thank them tomorrow," said Nanako. "They came all this way to bring you your things. They must care a lot about you."

"I guess," muttered Ryoma, "but would you mind if I stayed home tomorrow? I don't feel very good."

"Are you sick?" asked Nanako.

She leaned across the table and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. Man, was she quick to worry. Ryoma leaned away from her and shook his head.

"I just don't really feel up to going to school tomorrow," said Ryoma quietly.

Nanako nodded, but she still looked a little worried. It would be horrible if Ryoma got sick a few hours after his parents left the country.

"Don't worry," said Ryoma. "I'm fine. Besides, you're starting to sound like Oishi-senpai."

Nanako nodded and blushed a little. Ryoma could read her like a book.

After dinner Nanako went out and rented a couple of horror movies. As tough as Ryoma thought he was, he was powerless against a good horror movie.

"Pick the one you want to watch first," said Nanako.

She held out the two movies and Ryoma pointed to one randomly. Nanako smiled and popped it into the DVD player. She had gone all out. As well as they got along, she and Ryoma weren't very close. They were nice to each other, but when it really came down to it, they couldn't really say they were good friends. Nanako was determined to change that. The movie started as Nanako cut the lights. Thirty minutes in and Ryoma was clinging to her for dear life. Not that she wasn't hanging on to him as well.

"I'm never watching _Hannibal Rising_ again!" shouted Ryoma.

He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

"Don't be a baby, Ryoma-san," cried Nanako. "The movie just got good!"

Ryoma shuddered and turned the lights on.

"I'm going to bed," said Ryoma. "Where's Karupin?"

Nanako giggled and let him go. Ryoma hurried upstairs after saying a brief 'good night' to his cousin. He changed into his pajamas and curled up in his bed. Karupin snuggled up next to his and purred loudly. It had been too much for one day. Just way too much.

* * *

YAAAAAY!!!!! This chapter had no real purpose, but to set up the next chapter! I hope liked it. I made two updates in one day. Oh and the excerpt at the beginning of the chapter, if you read it, please tell me what you think and, depending on the response, I'll write a sequel for this story.

Madam Snow


End file.
